A U-shaped double-side polished plastic optical fiber (POF) is demonstrated as a liquid refractive index (RI) sensor. The refractive index of glycerinum solutions is identified by the intensity detection on the bending and evanescent wave loss change. Heat treatment and mechanical polishing are adopted to form the symmetrical side-polished POF probe. The processing parameters are experimentally optimized on the power transmittance. The sensitivity of 1541%/RIU (Refractive Index Unit) can be obtained with a resolution of 5.35 × 10−4 in the scope of 1.33–1.39. The favorable temperature characteristic is proved to offer stable RI sensing from 20 to 50 °C. This simple POF sensor has potentials in low-cost visible light intensity RI detection.
Based on a quantum mechanical approach, the polarization transport of photons that propagate in a medium with slowly varying refractive index is studied. The photon polarizations are separated in opposite directions normal to the ray, which is called “spin Hall effect” of photons. Also, the rotation of the polarization plane occurs, a manifestation of the Berry phase. This approach can be generalized to other spinning particles in inhomogeneous media as a universal method.
Sensitivity Enhanced Refractive Index Sensor by Reducing the Influence of In-Plane Wavevector in Photonic Spin Hall Effect
